


Holiday Magic

by SunshineShal13



Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Character Development, Christmas, Christmas Fluff, Eventual Romance, F/M, Friendship, Gen, Inspired by A Christmas Carol, Inspired by Hallmark Christmas Movies
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-09
Updated: 2020-12-19
Packaged: 2021-03-09 03:46:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,654
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27464395
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SunshineShal13/pseuds/SunshineShal13
Summary: After coming back to her hometown for Christmas and finding out a developer plans to evict everyone on the block where her mom's store is located, Liv Anderson and her friend Brandon decide to stop him, but not without the help of a certain Time Lady.





	1. Chapter 1

People always talk about Christmas miracles. Never really needing or experiencing a miracle during the Christmas season, I never really thought about it. Until this Christmas. That was when I discovered that certain miracles do happen at Christmas. And some happen in ways that you least expect them to.

"What if we try to raise money for the block? If we raise enough, we'll be able to save it, right?" Brandon asked, as we walked back from the bar to my house.

"That's not going to work." I said. "We don't have enough time to raise the money we'd need to save all of the shops, and even if we did, I doubt it would even be enough for him." I muttered.

For the past couple of hours, we'd been brainstorming ideas on how to save the block where my mom's store and Brandon's dad's hardware store currently stood. All of the owners and the staff working at these places were going to lose their jobs thanks to a greedy developer who wanted to turn this block into a fancy spa resort, even though there were plenty of undeveloped spots around the town. I only found out about this about a week ago when I came back into town to visit my parents for Christmas. For some reason my mom had neglected to tell me this before I came into town.

Now, to say I was pissed was an understatement. I was livid. After finding out about this, I took a little trip to Mr. Seawald's company, not alone, of course. I was going to, but Brandon, who I had known my entire life, came with me. He knew what happened when I was angry and he knew that there needed to be someone to rein me in. That however, didn't work and we both found ourselves thrown out by security. Which led us to where we were now. It was officially Christmas Eve morning (Technically, I mean it was after midnight) and we only had until New years day. That gave us a little over a week to try to find a solution. People who had owned these businesses were going to lose them. After throwing ideas around for a while, we were figuring out that this was harder than we though. We weren't aware that soon, we'd be getting some help from a very unexpected source.

"Oh I've got it! A Christmas Carol!" Brandon said.

"You mean give him a copy to him to read it?" I asked. "I don't think that's going to change his mind."

"No, like actually do a Christmas Carol." He said.

I started laughing because I thought he was joking. After seeing his earnest expression, I realized he was serious.

"I'm sorry, are you implying that we actually can do that?!" I said incredulously, staring at him. "That is physically impossible. First of all, do you see 3 ghosts and a ghost in chains just floating around here? Because I don't. Second of all, I'm pretty sure we can't travel to the past or future."

"Well then, I'm all out of suggestions then." Brandon said as we passed an alleyway.

As we walked past an alleyway I was about to respond when I felt a strong wind blow. Which normally wouldn't be unusual, especially since it was snowing and strong winds tended to blow with the snow, but this one just felt different. It was also accompanied by a strange whoosing sound. I hit Brandon's arm and we both stared as we saw a blue box with the words "Police Public Call Box" on the top materialize right in front of us.

"You see that too. Right?" I asked Brandon, still trying to comprehend what had just happened.

"Yep. I did see that. How much exactly did we have to drink?" Brandon asked me. "I mean, we had to have had a few drinks to see that."

"I thought we didn't drink that much." I said.

Suddenly, the door to the blue box opened and a woman walked out. Thanks to the street lamp that illuminated the alleyway, we were able to see her features. She had a blonde bob and was wearing a long lavender coat. Yellow suspenders were on top of a dark blue striped shirt. She was also wearing light blue ankle pants and brown boots. I had never seen anything like this before and judging on the expression on Brandon's face, he hadn't either. Suddenly, after spotting us, the woman spoke.

"Do you two happen to know what day it is?" She asked in an urgent sounding English accent. "Can't quite keep it straight in there."

After a small silence in which we were still wondering if we were slowly losing our minds, I spoke.

"It's uh, December 24th 2019." I finally got out."

The woman broke into a smile. "Oh, brilliant!" She said. "I got here just in time, then."


	2. Chapter 2

Brandon and I stared at the woman for a second before I managed to speak.

“Uh, in time for what?” I said, still utterly confused as to what was going on here. I was still partly convinced both of us were losing our minds, but really, who knew.

“Christmas, of course.” The woman said. “Always love a good Christmas, me.”

“Yeah. Christmas is a great time. As a matter of fact, we actually should be heading back to go to sleep so that we can get up in time for last minute shoppers.” Brandon said, clearly still just as confused as I was over this whole interaction.

“Smart idea.” The woman said. “I’m sure I’ll see you around.”

As Brandon and I headed back, we glanced over our shoulders to see the woman pull out something from her pocket and move it around. I shook my head as we focused on getting home.

“Ok. What just happened there?” I asked.

Brandon shrugged his shoulders. “I wish I knew. I’m still partly convinced that it’s from the alcohol I drank.”

“Yeah, but I had the same amount, which wasn’t a lot, and I just saw that too.” I said.

“Maybe since we’ve been working closely together trying to figure out how to save the block, we somehow both had the same stressed induced hallucination.” He said.

“Maybe. Or maybe we both just need some sleep.” I said as we headed down Brandon’s neighborhood.

“Yeah. That sounds nice.” He agreed. “See you tomorrow, or I guess later today.” He said as we parted ways.

“Sounds good. Maybe we can still figure this out.” I said.

He waved as he watched me walk away. I walked the block to my house, breathing in the cold air. I opened the door quietly as I could so I didn’t wake my parents and headed up the stairs, taking a long look at the Christmas lights on the tree that still sparkled. I sighed and headed up to my room.

As I got ready for bed, I felt drained. At this point, we were running out of options. There was nothing we could do to save the block and it crushed me. I cried myself to sleep that night.  
The next morning found me at the coffee shop. I was meeting Brandon for breakfast and a chat. I ordered us our usual and found a table. I had only been sitting there a few minutes when I heard the door jingle and looked up. 

My heart fluttered when Brandon walked in. The weird thing was, that hadn’t been the first time that it had happened since I’d been back in town. Ever since we started working on this, I’d felt something. I wasn’t exactly sure what it was, but I kept trying to brush it off. We were just friends and that was it, but I digress.

“Hey. You got us the usual, I see.” He said as he shrugged off his coat and sat down.

“Don’t I always?” I asked, laughing as he stuck his tongue out at me. My laugh faded though as I happened to glance at the door and saw Mr. Seewald himself come through the door. The whole room went silent as he came in.

“Well, look who it is.” I whispered to Brandon, glaring at him as he walked to the counter. The whole place was staring at him, but he walked to the counter, ignoring everyone as he ordered his coffee to go.

Once he walked out, everyone started talking again.

“Bold of him to come into the coffee shop that he’s planning on turning into a spa.” I said, shaking my head.

“Honestly, he has some nerve coming in here. I’m surprised no one yelled at him.” Brandon replied.

“It’s because no one wanted to deal with him.” I said.

“Dude really needs some holiday spirit in his life.” He said.

“Good luck with that.” I said. “Remember what happened yesterday?” I asked.

“Fair point.” He agreed. “Now, can we talk about last night?” He asked.

“I know, I’m still thinking about it. I mean, I’m still wondering what that was.” I said.

“I keep thinking about what she said before we left, though.” He said.

“I know. How would she even know that she’d see us again. And when? And, is she even real or was it all a figment of our imaginations? I asked.

As if in answer to our question, the door opened and the mysterious woman walked in. She walked up to the counter and ordered something. I watched as she started gesturing in a comical way.

“Ok, so maybe we weren’t hallucinating last night.” Brandon said. “But then that doesn’t explain that blue box that materialized right in front of us with her in it and who she is.”

I sat thinking about it for a while. That woman was definitely mysterious, and the fact that she had come out of a blue box that literally appeared out of thin air was strange. There had to be something going on there.

“You’ve got your ‘I may have figured out a solution face’ on. Brandon said. “So spill.”

“Well, it’s a strange coincidence that she just appeared at the same time we’ve been trying to figure out a plan to save the block, don’t you think?” I asked.

“You know.” Brandon said. “Now that I think about it, it is a little strange, but I’m not exactly sure where you’re going with this.”

“ Ok, this might sound crazy, but just go with me here. There had to have been a reason why that happened. It can’t be a coincidence that she just popped up at the right time. When we were pretty much out of options. Now, do you see where I’m going with this?” I asked.

“Hang on.” Brandon said slowly. “Are you saying that...”

“That she’s somehow the answer to our problem.” I said grinning. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed her walking out of the coffee shop

“Come on! We’ve gotta catch her!” I said, throwing on my coat and bolting out the door as Brandon followed behind me.

“Wait!” I yelled as we continued running after her. People were staring at us as we passed by them, but honestly I didn’t care. That feeling that I kept having wasn’t going away and frankly, we needed answers and a solution.

She finally turned around. “Hi again!” She said cheerfully. “See, I told you that I’d be running into you again.” She said. “What can I do for ya?” She asked, hitting the mark. Somehow, she knew that we had questions.

“Ok.” I said, trying to catch my breath. “I apologize if this sounds crazy, but I just need to say this. I don’t know how, or why, but I think you’re the one person who has answers to stopping the developer who’s planning on turning that whole block into a spa resort. I don’t think that it was a concidence that we met you.”

The woman raised an eyebrow, a small smile on her face. “That’s an awfully brave statement to make to someone you just met, but luckily for you, it’s a true statement.” She said. “And no, it wasn’t exactly a coincidence.”

“Ok two things.” Brandon asked. “One, who are you. And two, how is it not a coincidence?” 

“I’m the Doctor.” She said. “And brace yourselves here, ‘cause I’ve actually seen the future of your town and it’s not pretty.” She warned. “If we don’t stop the developer, this town will essentially be in ruins in 10 years.”

Brandon and I stared at her for the second time in less than 24 hours. Both of us were trying to make sense of what she’d just told us.

“Hold on. I’m sorry. Did you just say that you’ve been to the future?” I asked in disbelief “Because then, that makes you a-”

“Time traveler, yes.” The Doctor said simply. 

“Ok, well wasn’t expecting that.” Brandon muttered what I was thinking.

“Look, I know this is a lot for you two to take in, but if it helps, I also met you two in the future and both of you were amazing at fighting against the aliens.” She said helpfully.

“Whoa. Hold on,” I said. “First you tell us that you’re a time traveler who’s seen the future of this town being in ruins and now you’re telling us that not only did you meet our future selves, but we were fighting against aliens?! Yeah. Really need an explanation on this.”

“I agree with Liv.” Brandon said. “We’re going to need a lot more than that.”

The Doctor sighed. “Once you two had given up finding a solution to saving the block your shops were on, the sale obviously went through. But, after 5 years of the spa resort, the developer decided to sell it to someone else, who turned out to be an alien from a species called the Chaianthus.” 

The Doctor paused for a second so that we could take this all in. Or at least attempt to. It really was a lot to take in. Finding out that the future was a whole lot different because of the events that were currently happening was scary.  
“To make a long story short, a war broke out between your city and the aliens and it’s still going on.” She finished.

“So all of that was because we couldn’t find another solution to saving the shops?” I asked in horror. 

“That’s a terrifying prospect.” Brandon said.

“Well see, this is where I come in.” The Doctor said, grinning again. “I happened to run into your future selves who told me all about what happened. They just happened to mention that you two would be out at midnight. Which left me with the idea to find you two.”

“So it actually 100% wasn’t a coincidence.” I said, shaking my head.

“Nope.” The Doctor said. “But, it has to be today that we stop him from planning on tearing these shops down. Plus, I do love a good shop.” She said, fondly.

“But how?” I asked. “We already tried talking to him and that obviously didn’t work.”

“Yeah, I don’t think getting thrown out of an office is a form of anything working.” Brandon replied.

“You just didn’t have me to help you out.” The Doctor said. “Now, c’mon. Let’s see if we can’t get him to change his mind.” She said, walking briskly.

“You know, you’re going the wrong way.” Brandon said, pointing the other way. “And, it’ll take us a while to walk there. I don’t suggest walking that far in the cold.”

“Who said anything about walking there?” The Doctor asked. “Or even driving?” She said.

“Oh, you have another way for us to get there?” I asked. Then it hit me. “Oh.. wait a minute.” I said, as that blue box that she had appeared in loomed in front of us. Now that it was daytime, I noticed that it had a greenish tinge to it as well. 

“So is this your time machine?” Brandon asked curiosly.

“In a manner of speaking.” The Doctor said, taking out a key from her jacket pocket and opening the door.

Brandon and I looked at each other in slight confusion as she walked in. It looked too small for 3 people to fit in there comfortably. We shrugged our shoulder and walked in, only to stop in surprise.


	3. Chapter 3

There was something comforting about this vast space, but mysterious and strange at the same time. Plus, there was something about this ship that seemed almost alive. Brandon and I stood there for a long while. Honestly, after finding out the Doctor was a time traveler, this shouldn't have been such a surprise, but it was. Most likely because neither of us had ever met a time traveler.

The current time traveler in question was looking at us with a grin on her face. It looked like random people getting surprised with the massive size of the interior was a common thing for her.

"Right!" She said, clapping her hands together. "This is the TARDIS. What d'you think?" She asked.

"None of this is anything what we were expecting." I said, still in awe.

"Nope. I mean, finding out time travel is one thing, but actually being in one is, well, a whole lot different." Brandon said.

"You mean you two don't take regular trips in a time machine?! I'm shocked!" The Doctor said in a fake surprised voice, making both Brandon and I laugh.

"Ok. Ok. We get it." I said. "This whole being surprised thing is normal. Now that we've gotten this out of the way, are we going to try talking to Seawald again? Because now I'm really curious to see if it'll work this time."

"Oh, it will work. Trust me." The Doctor said confidently, walking over to what looked to be a console. It had various levers surrounding it. "I'm pretty persuasive."

I looked at Brandon and he shrugged his shoulders. There was only one way to find out. Unfortunately, that way didn't work out as planned because approximently 10 minutes later, we were thrown out, despite the Doctor's protests and warnings about something terrible happening.

"Ok, well that didn't exactly go as I planned it." The Doctor said as we walked back into the TARDIS

"Don't blame yourself." Brandon said. "No one's been able to get through to him."

"There's gotta be another way, though." I said hopefully, watching the Doctor at the console, her hands skillfully pulling levers and pushing buttons.

"See, you need to have her attitude." The Doctor said cheerfully, pointing to me. "What happened to your Christmas spirit?"

"Don't tell me you're turning into Seewald." I said, crossing my arms. I was worried about Brandon now. I didn't want him to lose hope. That was the last thing we needed.

"What?! Not in a million years!" Brandon said, sounding offended. "It's just that I'm starting to lose faith. We haven't been able to sway him and it's Christmas Eve. We've tried everything, and he still hasn't budged. So what's the point in making another plan when none of the other ones have even worked?"

"Y'know, in my years of traveling, I've learned a few things." The Doctor said, thoughtfully. "One of those being that when you're passionate about something, you keep working on it. And, when there's a problem, you keep finding a solution, until you find one that works. You certaintly don't give up." She finished

"She does have a point." I said. "I mean, there were so many times when we could've just given up. I mean, we could've just accepted the fact that he was going to turn the whole block into a spa and leave it at that. But, we haven't. Because you and I both know that somehow we can save the block and all of the shops."

Whether it was the fact that I still was positive that we'd be able to stop the selling of the block, or the fact that I'd seen things that I thought were never possible, but I was starting to believe that impossible things could become possible.

"Exactly!" The Doctor said. "Plus, there are Christmas miracles and I think this is gonna be one of them." She finished, her green eyes twinkling.

I looked at Brandon and started to see the same thing I was feeling. He was starting to realize that there was going to be a miracle, one way or another. He was starting to see that we couldn't give up because everyone on that block, including our parents, needed us even if they didn't know that it was us that was going to save it.

"You're right." He said, a grin starting to form on his face. "Both of you. I don't know why I was thinking we had to give up. We can't. There's too much at stake. We can get him to change."

"Aha! I knew you had that Christmas spirit in you somewhere. You just needed us to give you a little pep talk. That's all." The Doctor said, grinning.

"If Scrooge could change his ways and become a kinder and more compassionate person, then so can Seewald." I said.

"Yeah, but there is a slight difference. He's a fictional character and Seewald isn't." Brandon pointed out. "Not to mention that we don't have any ghosts for the past, present, or future."

"Hey! It still counts!" I protested.

I happened to glance over to the Doctor, who had a pensive expression on her face. Somehow I could tell that she was planning something, but I wasn't sure what yet. She seemed to have forgotten we were here. Not to mention the fact that I wasn't sure if we'd even landed back in the same spot.

"Uh, Doctor?" I asked tentively. That seemed to have snapped her out of her reviere.

"Right! Sorry about that." She said in a distracted voice. "You can leave now. We're back."

"Um, are you ok?" Brandon asked.

"I think I might've come up with a much better plan." She said as we walked to the doors. "Meet me here before midnight."

"Uh, ok. Are you gonna tell us this amazing plan?" I asked.

"Nope! It's a surprise." She said, grinning. "But I think you're gonna love it."

"Ok then." I said, as we walked out. "See you tonight then."

"So, what exactly do you think her plan is?" Brandon asked.

It was snowing gently as we walked outside. I breathed in the cold air as we took the well worn path that led to our block. We got pushed a few times as people hurried from one place to another getting last minute shopping done.

"So, what do you think she has in mind?" Brandon asked.

I shrugged my shoulders. "I have no idea, but judging from her expression, I assume it's a good one."

"I hope so. Because honestly at this point, I think it would have to take a miracle." Brandon replied.

I stopped walking and turned to him. "Hey." I said softly, putting a hand on his arm. "I know you're worried, and so am I. But, I think that this might be it. I just have this feeling that it is. And I think we need to trust her on this. This is pretty much our last option."

"You're right." Brandon sighed. We continued walking for a minute in silence until Brandon broke it.

"I know this is going to sound odd, but hear me out." He said

"Like what's been happening isn't odd enough?" I retorted.

"Ok, true." Brandon conceded. "This might add to the weirdness, actually.

"Well, now I'm intrigued where you're going with this." I said.

"I'm not sure about you, but I think there's something more to the Doctor." He said.

"What, you mean something other than the fact that she's a time traveler?" I asked.

"Yeah. I just get this feeling that she's..." He started.

"That she's not just a time traveler but something else?" I finshed.

"Exactly!" Brandon exclaimed. "So you think so too?" He asked me.

I nodded my head. 'Ever since we met her I've felt that." I said. "This sounds crazy, but I've been feeling like there's something not exactly human about her."

"Almost otherworldy, right?" Brandon asked.

"That's it. That's what It's felt like." I replied.

It was true. There was something off about her. Not a bad off. It was just a feeling that I'd been getting. She had almost a frentic energy to her. Not to mention that when we were looking at her, there was something in her eyes that exuded ancientness and wisdom even though she looked like she could be in her mid to late 30's. Not to mention that there was so much sadness in her eyes.

"I guess that wouldn't really matter though. She's the one person who can hopefully help us get through to him, even if it is a weird plan." Brandon said.

"Honestly at this point, I really wouldn't be surprised if it was, as long as it helps open his eyes and see what he's going to do to this town." I replied, as we reached my mom's boutique and Brandon's dad's hardware store.

"Well, I guess we'll find out later." Brandon said as we parted ways.

That night after the 10 PM Christmas eve mass, we headed back to the same place. I shivered a bit. Even though I was wearing a sweater dress, leggings, boots, and a coat, I was still cold. Brandon noticed me rubbing my arms and thoughtfully laid one arm around my shoulder, rubbing one of my arms. I started feeling warmth enter my body, along with another feeling that I couldn't explain.

"Better?" He asked.

"Actually, yeah." I said, as he removed his arm. "Um, thanks."

"Well, you were shivering, so I couldn't just let you shiver." He replied, blushing a little.

"I really appreciate that." I said, also feeling myself blush.

We walked in silence, until we reached the TARDIS. Expecting to see the Doctor standing outside, we were confused when we didn't see her there.

"So, are we supposed to knock or just open the door or what?" Brandon asked.

I shrugged my shoulders. "You think I know?" I asked. "I'm just as new to this stuff as you are."

As if in answer to Brandon's question, the door to the TARDIS opened slightly.

"Ok, well that answers that question." I said, as I pushed the door open wider.

Brandon followed me as I walked into the TARDIS. We could hear our footsteps on the floor as we walked in farther, but the Doctor was nowhere to be seen.

"Where is she?" Brandon whispered as we looked around, but everywhere we ;ooked, we couldn't find her.

Suddenly, the doctor popped up from somewhere under the TARDIS. I jumped a bit. I wasn't expecting her to pop up like that. Beside me, Brandon laughed at me, until I jabbed him with my elbow and he turned the laughter into coughing.

"Oh good! Right on time." She said cheerfully. She had a pair of steampunk looking goggles on her face, giving me the impression that she must have been tinkering with something underneath the console.

"It's not like we really had anything else to do after church, other than go home and maybe wrap presents." Brandon said.

"I was wondering why you two were dressed up. Thought you might've been on a date." She said, with a twinkle in her eye.

Brandon and I blushed and looked at each other. "Uh, nope. Not us." I said, awkwardly and changed the subject. "Anyways, we're here, so what's the plan?"

"Right!" The Doctor said, taking off the goggles. "The plan is that we're going to take him to his past!"


End file.
